FAQ

• OpenCPN runs with many OS including Android, Linux (many flavors), Windows & MacOS.
• OpenCPN will never work directly with iphone because the iphone store limits production of a version of OpenCPN.
• OpenCPN can use the Javascript Plugin and Shadow OpenCPN with devices running iNavX
• OpenCPN can be used on an iphone with VNC, see Ipad VNC.
  • Use a small Linux computer like Raspberry Pi 3 running Openplotter.
  • Then use a VNC viewer in full screen mode on an iPhone or iPad to view the RPi screen over Wi-Fi.
  • Put OpenCPN on the RPi and you effectively have OpenCPN on an iThing.
  • You can get the RPi for <$50 US.
  • Screenshot of VNC with an iPad or iPhone
  • 

- There are two versions in the Google Play Store. We suggest you will be happiest with the paid version created by D. Register because it is updated regularly and is current. There is a forum at http://bigdumboat.com/aocpn/forum/ .

Messages like: * “ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)” or * “(opencpn:8979): Gdk-CRITICAL : IA_gdk_drawable_get_size: assertion `GDK_IS_DRAWABLE (drawable)' failed” * '(opencpn:8979): Gdk-CRITICAL : IA_gdk_drawable_get_depth: assertion `GDK_IS_DRAWABLE (drawable)' failed Error opening coefficient file“ * ”(opencpn:8979): Gdk-CRITICAL : IA_gdk_window_get_origin: assertion `GDK_IS_WINDOW (window)' failed“ are quite normal and have nothing to do with OpenCPN. Just ignore them!

1. Try using the “V” shortcut key which shows/hides Hides/shows all navobjects. The only exceptions being the active route and track which are always drawn on the chart canvas.

1. Condition: Multitude of repeated waypoints, which get copied when a waypoint is dragged. Sometimes a route WP is shifted, two routes are made, one with the name, the other unnamed.
2. Possible Solutions: Determine if the addition of waypoints are from inadvertently hitting the wrong keys on the keyboard, or the mouse.
3. The other possiblity is that the navobj change file is corrupted. Close O and try to delete the change file In W8.1 it is found in C:\ProgramData\opencpn/navobj.xml.changes. Normally, after that O will work again.

One possibility is that you have the space-bar set to drop a wpt at the boats position. This used to be standard behavior some time ago. If this is a problem, shut down OpenCPN. Open the file opencpn.ini, find the line:

 SpaceDropMark=1  and change it to   SpaceDropMark=0 

Save and restart O.

So that the names show up beside each waypoint as it is placed? There is not a very easy way, but one at least much easier then you do now.

1. Run O open the routemanager and select and export the routes you want to change.
2. Then open the exported route(s) in a editor (notebook?) and do a text find and replace.
3. Search for ”<opencpn:auto_name>1</opencpn:auto_name>“
4. and replace with ” <opencpn:viz_name>1</opencpn:viz_name> <opencpn:auto_name>1</opencpn:auto_name> “
5. Close the editor, run O again and import the altered route(s).

Now you should have all waypoint names visible.

• Export the waypoints to a file and open this file in a text editer (Notepad?)
• Do a search and replace on the ScaleMinvalue (Default = 2147483646) to anything you like.
• Save the file and import again in OpenCPN.
• This way it doesn't take two days but just over two minutes instead

The GUID box is not useful for anything but knowing the GUID. Knowing the GUID is good to be able to find a specific object in OpenCPN's GPX data when processed in a text editor. Doing things with OpenCPN's GPX data in a text editor is something you normally don't do, but when you do, you are most happy that you know the GUID of a certain object.

1. Opening the properties page, and adding a link to a JPG-image works fine. If I now edit the link, the image will no longer be displayed.
   1. The button “Edit” changes state. You click on it to switch the links above to “edit mode”, each click on any of the links opens the dialog allowing you to change it's parameters. After editing the link, you have to click on the button again and then a click on the links will again start opening whatever they link to. What will happen when you click on the link is explained in the text below the buttons and changes according to the “Edit button”. If it says “Links are opened in the default browser”, the linked file or internet address should open, given it exists, which gets us to..
2. Similarily, if I export a waypoint with a link to another computer, the link will not open.
   1. The link is just a link, the file you link to is NOT “included” in the waypoint. When you transfer the waypoints to another computer, for links to local files to keep working, the files you link to would have to exist on the exactly same place on your disk there. Eg. The file that on computer A is C:\MyDocuments\MyPicture.jpg would have to exist with exactly the same file name, in the exactly same folder, on the exactly same disk on computer B.

Question: Layers is a good feature, however I need a tool to create a layer with many waypoints (say 200 waypoints in Fiji). I'd like create a layer of all visible waypoints in a chart area that I have zoomed into. After creating the layer, I'd like to delete them from the waypoints list with a single command.

Answer: Using the Route & Mark Manager

• Import the waypoints into the Waypoints Tab.
• Select all the Waypoints by clicking & highlight the top waypoint, scroll to the bottom and while holding the Shift key, click to highlight all.
• Wait for all the waypoints to be highlighted.
• Click on the button “Export selected …”.
• Browse to choose the directory to save the waypoints, & name the file 'Fiji Waypoints'.
• Click on 'Save'.
• All the waypoints will be in one .gpx file which, when put in the Layers folder can be displayed or not in the Layers Tab by toggling the 'eyeball'.
• You can also use the 'List contents' in the Layers Tab to have the Waypoints displayed in the Waypoints Tab.
• When done you can clear the Waypoints Tab from the Layers tab by clicking on 'Unlist Contents'.
• See Handling Layers

- Activate the route first. Then you can activate a specific waypoint within it.

1. Receive waypoints in GPX-file from an external source which are arranged in the intended travel sequence. However, the GPX doesn't include direct routes between those waypoints.
2. Import the waypoints to OpenCPN and the order in the Waypoint and Route Manager is correct.
3. How to create a direct route between those waypoints in OpenCPN automatically without editing the gpx-file?
   1. Best way to do this, by “forcing the text file to be generated as route points”, then generate Route from track in the Route & mark manager.
   2. Manual Route creation by Start route creation. (Ctrl + r or right mouse click menu), Then click first WP and accept “Use nearby WP” and so on.
   3. GPS Babel may help you out if the handcrafting feels annoying.
   4. Use a Text Editor to form the xml list of waypoints into a route to conform to the xml format.

<CODE> <rte>

  <name>test2edit</name>
  <extensions>
     [DATA}
  </extensions>
  <rtept lat="57.679627692" lon="11.796954074">
     [ROUTE DATA]
  </rtept>
  <rtept lat="57.679627692" lon="11.796954074">
     [ROUTE DATA]
  </rtept>

<rte> </CODE>

Three ways to synchronize:

• From the Route & Mark Manager > Route Tab, select “Export all visible” or highlight select routes and “Export Selected” to a gpx folder. Then use saved gpx file to import the Routes to another computer. For Marks pick the Waypoint Tab, select “Export all visible” or highlight select waypoints and “Export selected” to a gpx folder. Then import waypoints from the other computer.
• Copy the navobj.xml file to the second computer's navobj.xml file, which will overwrite your routes and marks on that computer. If you are connected via a network you can make a batch file to do this.
• To copy all waypoints or routes, make a copy & rename the navobject.xml file to .gpx file and import the waypoints, routes and/or tracks. This does all waypoints/routes/tracks at once.

The navobj.xml file resides in the same folder as the opencpn.ini settings file, under the OpenCPN User folder. For windows this is usually “C:\programdata\opencpn\”. The navobject.xml file is in in fact a .gpx file containing all waypoints/routes/tracks. See Navigation Data Backup for more information.

Make a script or batch file to copy to navobject.xml file. Make an icon for the batch file on your desktop. Examples: Make an icon for the batch file on your desktop.

Copy-Routes-AB.bat

Copy \\ComputerA-name\C:\ProgramData\opencpn\navobj.xml \\ComputerB-name\C:\ProgramData\opencpn\navobj.xml

Copy-Routes-BA.bat

Copy \\ComputerB-name\C:\ProgramData\opencpn\navobj.xml \\ComputerA-name\C:\ProgramData\opencpn\navobj.xml

For more discussion see Cruiser Forum Thread Real-time sharing waypoints and routes

If you did delete the original [route, wpt, track], you may still have an automatic backup in an older navobj.xml.[1-5] file. Don't restart Opencpn again, until you retrieve the data you want. See Navigation Data Backup for more information.

This problem has been traced to shutdown management. Please see Tracker FS#2245 and OpenCPN and Linux powerup/down management For Windows and MAC users it is suggested that it is best to shutdown OpenCPN first, then shutdown the Computer.

Question: How to split a long route into shorter segments with each segment having its own start and end waypoint? When the split function is used, I get a new route name with an _B suffix, but it's still physically “connected” to the original route (now with a _A suffix) with a segment line connecting the two. I want to end up with two distinct routes that are not connected. How do I do that? Answer: The point where you did split the route exists now twice as start of one and end of the other route. Just hide one of the two routes and move the waypoint you are interested in as you like. Or insert additional waypoints and delete the first one.

Deleted all routes in the Route & Mark Manager. Found a gpx Route File folder under documents on my computer. Importing all gpx routes into Route & Mark Manager from Route folder by highlighting all the routes. Now multiple routes with the same name show. How can I correct this. Importing a route at a time is tedious.

I had previously exported all visible routes and had that file in my GPX Route folder. What happened: I imported single listed routes by highlighting all the files in my GPX Route folder. However I didn't notice the gpx file which had a group of routes contained in it. Once I removed the gpx file with a group of files, the import gpx worked as anticipated.

There are so many GPS models that the answer is a bit complicated. A lot depends on which GPS model you have. OpenCPN can communicate with many GPS receivers via a serial connection. Some GPS receivers have a serial connector that can be wired to a DB-9 serial connector. Newer ones have a USB port that will appear like a serial connection to your computer. Still newer ones appear to your computer like an external drive.

If your GPS receiver shows up as a serial connection on your computer chances are you can upload routes and waypoints directly to it from within OpenCPN. The GPS and OpenCPN have to be set to the same communication protocol. If you normally have them set to NMEA (for updating the OpenCPN chart display with position data from the GPS) you may need to change a Garmin GPS to the GRMN proprietary protocol to upload routes, waypoints, and tracks. If your GPS doesn't show up as a serial connection you may still be able to transfer routes and waypoints to it outside of OpenCPN. If the GPS appears as an external drive on your computer try this. Use OpenCPN to export your routes and waypoints to a GPX file (read the User Manual section on the Route & Mark Manager for more details). Then use your operating system to copy the GPX file from your hard drive to your GPS. If that doesn't work, try GPSBabel or EasyGPS for the transfer.

Depending on your GPS model and the way the route was created in OpenCPN you may wind up with a route on your GPS or just a list of waypoints. The route points may or may not appear as waypoints on the GPS.

• Garmin has a program called Homeport which connects to most of their small GPSmap and Plotters which will upload/download waypoints and routes. I believe it will also import gpx routes.
• EasyGPS is a free program that allows you to transfer routes, waypoints, and tracks between your Windows computer and your Garmin, Magellan, or Lowrance GPS.
• GPSBabel is another free program that allows you to transfer data between your computer and your GPS. It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems and supports a wide range of GPS models.
• There are also some helpful notes in the manual.
• Route & Mark Manager
• Sending Routes and Waypoints to a GPS
• Hardware GPS Devices
• The oBabel plugin uses GPSBabel to transfer routes without leaving OpenCPN.

There are also some good Cruiser Forum threads about Garmin

• Waypoints Uploads OpenCPN to Garmin
• Reload this Page Route and waypoint transfer to Garmin 76xx chartplotters
• Waypoints Uploads OpenCPN to Garmin

This depends on what “a bit ago” actually is - (if you have since started OpenCPN more than 5 times, every time did some change to the navigation objects and did not change the default settings for backups, you don't have it anymore) - If you do not have that backup anymore, you may still export the route as GPX file which you may later edit in a text editor and make a track again (But you already have lost some precision as during the conversion to route the points recorded in the original track are interpolated to limit their total number) - Later: your track seems to still be there as the yellow highlight it has seems to be visible, so you should be good just deleting the route.

When you export multiple routes or tracks in one operation they are all written to a single GPX file. That might be why you think only the last one is being exported. When you import the GPX file all the routes or tracks it contains will be restored. Note: In GE the Track looks strange, although all are marked visible, only one track at a time is shown.

OpenCPN requires a valid ownship GPS location to calculate range and bearing to AIS targets. It was not designed for stationary operation to monitor live AIS traffic without GPS input. If you insist, you may use VDR plugin , by running a text file with a single GPRMC nmea sentence describing your homebase location, repeated over and over….this will work, try this in a text file: $GPRMC,180000.000,A,4221.0000,N,07106.0000,W,0.00,180.00,101017,,,*3E<cr><lf>

The TRUE Heading reported in the target query is always as actually reported by the target. We do not apply variation to that value before presentation. So, what you see is no error. Of course, in situations with strong cross currents, or maneuvering, the reported HDG and COG may be wildly different.

A valid GPS data input is required to produce range and bearing data for AIS targets. It will not use the “move boat here” coordinate. You can use the VDRplayer plugin and a previously recorded file to test this.

Make sure that Options→User Interface→” Enable Route/AIS info block“ is ticked before you spend more time on the issue. This is a new option. One reason for the new option relates to touch-screens. Since there is no concept of “mouse hover” on a touch screen, the “rollover” can only be activated when the user touches the AIS target on screen. On the other hand, the user also touches the screen to move the chart,zoom, etc. Some find that having these target rollover boxes pop up willy-nilly can be distracting. So, we add a method to turn them off.

MOB SART has been tested extensively. The methods for deactivation should work. See SART. Also Disable SART When Alert is active, find the Alert's MMSI number in the AIS Target List. Then Add a “New” MMSI number in Options→Ships→MMSI. Then Edit the Options→Ships→MMSI Properties to “ignore” this target. Then close the Options Dialog. Then “Acknowledge” the SART alert one more time, and no further alerts will be seen. If you restart OCPN, you will never get alerts for this target again.

• Disable all AIS alerts by unchecking the global setting for “Show AIS alerts”
• Permanently Block a particular AIS alert as in Sart above, copy the MMSI number and once added to the Options>Ship>MMSI Tab, pick “Follow” in the MMSI Tab.

See Ships Icon fluctuates AIVDO is the “ownship” sentence. It contains position information. My own AIS does not send one, it sends RMC and a GG? (there are a couple). Don't know why, some programmer's selection. You can confirm in the NMEA Debug window. Removing it is under Options|Connections. For each connection you can filter sentences by checking either the “Accept only sentences” or the “Ignore sentences” option, then put the sentence names in the filter box below (if the filter box is empty then this is ignored). You can use the ellipsis (…) to the right of the filter box to get a list of sentences. This is easiest if you run the debug window, then you can see what sentences you are receiving and accept/ignore those you want to filter.

The file aids with faster display of vessel name, until first static information message is received from that vessel, which then overrides the cached value. Usually found in your user folder, for Windows C:/program files (x86)/programdate/opencpn/ Please see the AIS section under mmsiname CSV

Yes, unless you break it. As it is created automatically, it is also safe to delete it. Please see Cruiser Forum post by Nohal for more answers.

• In Windows, Night, F5, mode. The title bar on the floating plugin window is a bit glaring (this mode is controlled by windows by way of a theme and is not possible to change from an application) .
• The best solution is to simply “dock” the dashboard window at night, either left or right. This brings the window decorations back under OCPN control, and we recently added logic to dim it in this mode.
• Dimming the screen, if it is available and goes far enough is often best. F6 General Dimming, in steps, of the entire Screen. (except Mac OS X ). OpenGL must be off.
• Otherwise the “Change color scheme' F5 button or (C, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+G). This may or may not work on your particular computer.
• See Keyboard Shortcuts
• For Linux users, who have little differentiation between shallow water colurs and land colours, try “F.Lux” which has a 2000k setting that makes the screen quite dull over the daytime colour palette. F.lux is confirmed as massive win on Linux. Daytime palette and use F7 to drop the brightness a bit more if needed. https://itsfoss.com/night-shift-flux-ubuntu-linux/
• Do you need the menu? Under Options | User Interface you can disable the interface.
• Why don't you change the windows colors? The menu bar follows the general user interface settings of Windows/MacOS/Linux. You can choose a dark user interface with a dark header and menu bar if you want.
• See CF Opencpn too bright at night

Read this.

• Create new registry entry here: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\DWM
• Create a new item called AccentColorInactive and assign it the value 0xff0f0f0f.

1. There is a Route Plugin for Great Circles.
2. Raster charts display bearings and headings as straight, measurable lines on the chart. Similarly, Vector ENC's are rendered as Mercator projections in OpenCPN and most other ECS's for the same reason.
3. For typical coastal navigation, errors which occur using rhumb line instead of great circle calculations are small for the distances usually covered by one chart.
4. Mercator Charts and Mercator navigation is the standard for most navigational purposes. Other terms used instead of “Mercator Sailing” is “Loxodrome Sailing” or “Rhumb Line Sailing”.

• Great Circle Routes are explained Great Circle Sailing.
• There is also a plugin available as well as some Supplementary Software to handle great Circles.

The new Active Route always disappears and I try to recreate it and it disappears again.

• If the distance to waypoint increases slightly then route manager says we have “arrived” and it tries to advance to the next waypoint.
• But in a simple “Navigate to here” scenario there is no next waypoint so it just assumes it has arrived at the destination.
• Also this problem may be due to some “noise” from the GPS position.
• Try setting Options > Ships > Own Ship in the Routes box check “Advance route waypoint on arrival only”.

1. Mark the routes in the Route&Mark Manager, recording the order.
2. Then export each route as a gpx file.
3. Open the first file in a text editor.
4. Open the next file in the text editor and copy the code between <rte> … </rte> not including them.
5. Then paste the code directly before the </rte> at the end of the first file.
6. Continue until done. Save the first file.
7. Import the gpx file with a new name.

• CF Thread Link How-to-use-a-x-box-controller-with-opencpn-on-raspbery-pi
• Using a wired x-box 360 controller. Well, actually, we are using a Logitech F310

• Yes. I had originally created and maintained all my routes and waypoints in SeaClear, exported them, loaded them into GPS Utility (for Windows) and saved them as text files.
• To import into OpenCPN I opened all my text files (routes and waypoints) with GPSUtility, saved that out as one big gpx file, and loaded it into OpenCPN. Works like a champ.
• I've edited them and saved them back out as GPX files with no trouble.
• Individual routes can be edited and saved in appropriately named GPX files.

No, not directly, they are in different formats. But you can convert them with the GPS Utility Program. Here's an older writeup Conversion of MaxSea Routes and Tracks Use an external tool to convert the proprietary Maxsea data to the open GPX format. Either the free C2GPXKML or shareware GPSUtility could help. Also if you have access to Maxsea, export all waypoints as Gpx and OpenCPN will read the gpx file. If different color waypoints is used, export them separately and and in a text editor change icon name to an icon used in OpenCPN.

See CF Adding waypoint from outside OpenCPN

Yes the NMEA WPL can be handled by OCPN but not the way you may want.

• There is a “Treat WPL sentences as APRS position reports” checkbox to enable this functionality in Toolbox → Ships → AIS Targets
• It can't be used to create marks in OCPN like when sent to some plotters.
• It can though be used to create ARPA alike targets. One condition is that one variable in OpenCPN config (.ini) file is set to thrue;
• In [Settings/AIS] bWplIsAprsPositionReport=1
• When the following messages the result is as of attached picture. The ten “targets” will be handled as AIS targets. That's marked as first undefined and finally deleted using the same time settings as for AIS.
• If not updated the WP number one target is drawn instead.
• See CF link and pict 2 and the Python script attached.